A musical-theater writer with “a knack for story and a taste for strange” (New York Times), Joe Iconis enjoyed an industry breakthrough when his song for NBC’s Smash—“Broadway, Here I Come!”—was hailed by the New York Times as a new entry in the Great American Songbook. His rip-roaring shows with a merry band of musical-theater punks known as The Family—an evolving cohort of multitalented misfits under the inspiration of Robert Altman and the Muppets—embody the integration of friendship and theater making. His musicals Broadway Bounty Hunter (with Lance Rubin and Jason SweetTooth Williams at Greenwich House Theater), Bloodsong of Love (Ars Nova), The Black Suits, ReWrite, and Be More Chill —the pharmaceutically enhanced teen satire that took Broadway by storm— have distinguished the prodigiously talented Iconis as a household name. A viral sensation, Be More Chill earned Iconis a Tony nomination, along with a platform to share his rock- and pop-infused songs with a whole new legion of fans. As a sample of how Iconis is drawn the edgy outsiders: He’s currently developing a new musical about gonzo journalist S. Hunter Thompson. The self-proclaimed rabble rouser now brings his trademark mash-up of show-tune cabaret and rock ‘n’ roll jam session to American Songbook for an incendiary set of classic tunes and new numbers.